Music legends from a variety of genres (including rock, pop, blues, country and more) have come together for a new duets album to reimagine Glen Campbell’s critically acclaimed, history-making farewell release, Ghost on the Canvas. Glen Campbell Duets – Ghost on the Canvas Sessions, released on April 19, 2024, via Big Machine Records and Surfdog Records, features contributions from such stars as Dolly Parton, Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Elton John and more, working with the producer and executive producer of the original 2011 album. The new collection is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. Listen to many of the duets below.
Penned by Campbell and one of the album’s producers, Julian Raymond, the emotional ballad was written about the unbreakable bond Campbell shared with his wife, Kim, crediting her for completing him.
Said Parton, “Singing anything with Glen Campbell is a great honor, but the song itself, ‘A Better Place,’ was one of the sweetest songs I’ve heard. I was proud to be a part of that.”
“Words cannot express how much I enjoyed blending my voice with Glen’s on this incredibly touching love song. Hard to sing when you’re crying,” said King, who first met Campbell in New York in the early ’60s when she, the Everly Brothers’ Phil Everly and Campbell formed the short-lived novelty trio, the Keestone Family Singers, who released one single in 1962.
From the label’s announcement: Ghost on the Canvas is the only album known to be written and recorded while the creator of it actively battled Alzheimer’s disease. The project was filled with songs that have ideas of hope, reflection, mortality, gratitude, and acceptance of fate.
Other talents that can be heard on the project include Sting, Linda Perry, Brian Setzer, Daryl Hall and Dave Stewart, and Chris Isaak, among others.
“You have to understand what this means to me,” said Setzer. “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour was one of the few shows the whole family gathered around the TV to watch. I actually dreamed of sitting on the couch with him when he jammed with all the other stellar musicians. And now as a grown man singing a duet with him, I look back at that little kid and say you did it! Thank you, Glen, you’ve made it come full circle.”
Campbell was one of the biggest stars of his generation—said to have outsold The Beatles in 1968. Across his illustrious 50+ year career, the Country Music Hall of Fame member released 64 albums and earned countless awards and recognitions for his music (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award). He was a huge influence on pop culture—he hosted a number of tv specials including his own The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour television show (of which Clapton—with Cream—was a guest) and earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his work on the film, True Grit. As a member of the session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, his contribution to music history can be heard across the soundtrack for Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas, the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and recordings with Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and many other legends.
Listen to the duet with his friend, Brian Wilson, who it was revealed in 2024, suffers from dementia
The singer and guitarist brought country music to the mainstream as a crossover star with hits like “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Wichita Lineman” and “Southern Nights.”
The superstar’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2011 shocked the world but gave people hope with the release of Ghost on the Canvas album and subsequent Goodbye Tour. Before succumbing to the disease in 2017 Campbell released the inspiring documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, which followed Campbell and his family as they overcame the hardships throughout his farewell tour across the globe.
Glen Campbell Duets – Ghost on the Canvas Sessions is produced by Dave Kaplan and Julian Raymond and executive produced by Scott Borchetta and Scott Seine.
Glen Campbell Duets – Ghost on the Canvas Sessions Track List
1. “There’s No Me… Without You” (with Carole King)
2. “Ghost On The Canvas” (with Sting)
3. “Hold On Hope” (with Eric Church)
4. “The Long Walk Home” (with Hope Sandoval)
5. “Nothing But The Whole Wide World” (with Eric Clapton)
6. “In My Arms” (with Brian Setzer)
7. “A Better Place” (with Dolly Parton)
8. “Strong” (with Brian Wilson)
9. “A Thousand Lifetimes” (with Linda Perry)
10. “It’s Your Amazing Grace” (with Daryl Hall and Dave Stewart)
11. “Any Trouble” (with X)
12. “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” (with Elton John)
2 Comments
I wonder why these people didn’t record with Campbell when he was actually participating in the sessions.
Saw Glen on the third to the last show he ever played. Front row next to his family members. He was incredible. Still there and solid in voice, his guitar solos were perfect. Loved him and his music my whole life. He was simply the best. RIP Glen, you blew me away.